Archive for March, 2008

One thing I forgot to mention about the Edinburgh to London train is that under every sign there was a braille sign for blind people. I’m not sure about you but I wouldn’t want to have to feel over every surface in a toilet on a train to get the instructions how to use it…

One annoying thing in both London and Paris is that you generally have to pay to utilise a public toilet by depositing coins into a turnstile or pay an attendant before you can enter. In London, the cost was generally 20p. I’m don’t think the that the cost is good value as the toilets generally don’t really seem any cleaner than most free public toilets that I’ve used.

Craig’s great aunt Olive (his grandmother’s sister) lives in Devon which is a shire located to the south west of the UK (and is the origin of Devonshire as in Devonshire tea) so we decided a few months back that we would go visit her while we were in London as he hadn’t seen her in about 15 years or so.

As such we caught a train this morning from Paddington Station (after which Paddington Bear is named) to Exeter St David Station where we were picked by Craig’s great aunt, his second cousin Sue and her husband John, who took us for a drive to Dawlish before heading to the Swan’s Nest pub for lunch (I had fish and chips and salad and Craig had Steak and Otter Ale pie and salad).

They then took us to the village of Sidmouth, which as the name suggests is the mouth of the river Sid. There we looked at cliffs which are a world heritage site from Jacob’s Ladder in the Connaught Gardens before proceeding for a stroll along the esplanade of the village.

Finally we went back to Aunt Olive’s house in Sidford (which is a village next to Sidmouth) for a cup of tea before heading back to Exeter to catch our train back to London.

Both Craig and I had a great day and really enjoyed meeting his great aunt and cousin. It was also nice as it was the first sunny day that we have had whilst we’ve been in the UK.

After breakfast, we caught the Tube to Victoria and walked down Buckingham Palace Road to Buckingham Palace to watch the Changing of the Guard. It was very crowded and we couldn’t see much so Craig and I stayed briefly to take a few pictures of Buckingham Palace and its surroundings and some of the new guards approaching before heading to St James Park station to catch the Tube to Tower Hill to go to the Tower of London.

At the Tower of London, we took a guided tour with one of the Yeoman Warders (aka Beefeaters) and went to look at the Crown Jewels. We then had lunch at the cafe which was very expensive and poor value. Next, we went up one of the ramparts to take some photos of the Tower Bridge.

Following this, we left the Tower of London and headed to the Tower Bridge Exhibition, where they have converted the upper span of the bridge into viewing platforms where you can look up and down the Thames River and the two towers into displays.

After the Tower Bridge, we walked over to Tower Gateway station and cause the Docklands Light Rail (DLR) to Greenwich. At Greenwich, we walked to the Royal Observatory which lies on the prime meridian (longitude 0°) which is the basis for time zones (hence the name Greenwich Mean Time). Unfortunately, we arrived a little late and the Observatory had shut so we could only see the prime meridian marker through the gates. At this point, it also started to rain heavily and we got soaked walking back to the DLR station.

We caught the DLR back into central London. As the interchange at Bank and Monument which would have allowed one train change to get to Earls Court is currently undergoing work, we had to get off at Canary Wharf (and no we didn’t see Daleks or Cybermen or Torchwood fighting each other for all you Doctor Who fans) and change to the Jubilee line to get to Westminster then onto the District line to Earls Court. This was the first time that we had caught a train during peak time and the train was so crowded that some people stood pretty much right against the door with their heads bent to the curvature of the carriage.

Once back at the hotel, I had a brief sleep before heading out with Craig to do some washing at a nearby laundromat. After the washing was done (around 9:30PM), Craig headed back to the hotel with the washing and I went to Gourmet Burger Kitchen to get some dinner which consisted of a burger (I had a Satay Beef and Craig has a Chicken, Camembert and Cranberry), fries and side salad each which we ate in the hotel room.

After having the breakfast buffet in the hotel, we caught the Tube to Madame Tussaud’s (District line to Edgware Road then Circle line to Baker St). Before we had left Seattle, I had purchased a discounted combination ticket to Madame Tussaud’s and the London Eye. The only condition was that I had to specify a time when we would be at Madame Tussaud’s. Stupid me thought that that would mean that we get in quicker. Boy was I wrong. When we arrived there was a massive queue which we thought was people purchasing tickets. After asking one of the staff members, we were advised that this was line for vouchers and prepaid tickets. From the impression I got, quite a few other people had thought the same thing that I did with regards to the prepurchased tickets i.e. that it would mean not having to queue, etc. Overall it took about 1/2 hour to get inside to Madame Tussaud’s.

Once inside the place was ridiculously crowded, making it very difficult to take photos, etc. as people would continually bump you or walk right in front of you while trying to take a picture. I had previously been to Madame Tussaud’s back in 1988 on a vacation with my parents and siblings and I remember it being as crowded. The crowds made it not very enjoyable and I wouldn’t go back again. The Chamber Live is worth skipping too as it was really scary at all. The only good thing was the Spirit Of London ride which takes you through some of the history of London.

I was also disappointed to learn that the London Planetarium which was located next to Madame Tussaud’s has been converted into the Stardome which simply shows an animation movie on the domed roof and is just another part of the whole Madame Tussaud’s star (not of the astronomical kind) focus.

I think a large part of the problem with Madame Tussaud’s is that you are forced to walk through the whole attraction from start to finish with no clear paths or separations even when there should be.

After leaving Madame Tussaud’s, we caught the Bakerloo line to Piccadilly Circus. After taking a few photos, we headed down Regent St to The Strand where we saw the Admiralty Arch before heading to Trafalgar Square, where we saw Nelson’s Column and stopped to have some lunch in the Square. We had some sandwiches and sushi that we bought from Pret A Manger which was across the road from the Square.

We next proceeded to the London Eye to utilise the remainder of the Madame Tussaud’s ticket combination. The London Eye is a big ferris wheel that is located on the embankment of the Thames River diagonally opposite of Big Ben. You get put into a glass bubble which holds about 25 people and gives views in all directions. Being a ferris wheel, I thought that the London Eye would move quite quickly but it moved relatively slowly to allow you to get an optimal view of London and a chance to look in all direction.

Next we hopped on the tube from Westminster to Victoria via the District line to pick up our tickets for Wicked that evening. Following this we headed back to the hotel room where I did some blogging and Craig had a short sleep.

We caught the Tube back to Victoria and headed to the Apollo Victoria Theatre where Wicked is currently showing. Wicked is a musical based on the book by Gregory Macguire about the witches of Oz (as in the Wizard of Oz) and is effectively a back story as seen from the Wicked Witch of the West’s perspective. The story was enjoyable but as a musical it didn’t really have any standout music except for the song Defy Gravity which leads into the intermission. I give it about a 6 out of 10.

After the show, we had a dinner across the road at the Duke of York pub before heading back to our hotel room for the night.